Many herbicide agents presently available require that the operator bend over and then hand pump a sprayer to apply the chemical to the leaves or to the base of undesirable vegetation. This bending over and hand pumping can be painful to the back and to the hands of the operator as well as being very time consuming. Additionally, there is a risk of destroying healthy desired vegetation by accidental contact of the healthy desirable vegetation with the herbicide. Such accidental contact of herbicide with healthy desirable vegetation can occur from overspray, from the wind blowing the sprayed droplets of liquid herbicide, or from the leaves of desirable vegetation hanging downwardly near mulch beds. Thus, there is a need in the art for an apparatus that will spray liquid herbicide underneath an adjustable protective shield to prevent overspray of the liquid herbicide. By placing weighted textured wheels on each side of the adjustable width protective shield, the rolling herbicide applicator with an adjustable width protective shield of the present invention can be rolled over a variety of terrain. The disclosed apparatus can be easily rolled over brick walkways, fence lines, patios, and grass to create borders around flower beds, and to make swaths over a large area, in and about garden areas, and mulch beds. Flower bed perimeters may require the use of the narrower width adjustment of the adjustable width protective shield, while driveways, brick pavers and large areas may require the use the wider width adjustment of the adjustable width protective shield for effective application of liquid herbicide.
Other prior art devices for controlling undesirable vegetation include:
Gas weed trimmer
Electric weed trimmer
Weed scissors
Weed killer sprayers with hand pump
Liquid sprayers
Brick paver pick
Gas powered and electric weed trimmers are heavy and must be held up above the ground. In addition, gas powered and electric weed trimmers do not get into small cracks very well. It is time consuming for an operator to hit each weed or undesirable piece of vegetation with a gas powered or electric weed trimmer.
Weed scissors are exhausting to the hand of an operator.
Liquid sprayers do not provide protection from overspray of liquid weed killer.
The use of weed killer in hand-pumped sprayers is exhausting to the operator. In addition, the operator must bend over to apply the chemical to the weed leaf or the base of the undesired vegetation. Further, such hand-pumped sprayers also do not provide protection from overspray, or the wind blowing the droplets in the chemical mist on to healthy desired vegetation or into the eyes or onto the exposed skin of the user.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide an apparatus which enables precise application of liquid herbicide onto the undesired vegetation.
It would also be advantageous to provide an ergonomically friendly way to apply liquid herbicide onto undesired vegetation.
It would be still further advantageous to provide an apparatus for accurately applying liquid herbicide on undesired vegetation with prevention of overspray, splatter, or accidental contact of herbicide with surrounding healthy desired vegetation, the eyes of the operator, or the skin of the operator.